Portable gymnastic device



Dec. 24, 1957 MARGULIES 2,817,522

PORTABLE GYMNASTIC DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 26, 1954 IN VENTOR. Ply/L lP M19? GUL/E MIKE/Z4 Dec. 24, 1957 P. MARGULIES PORTABLEGYMNASTIC DEVICE PHIL/P MHRGUL/GS Dec. 24, 1957 P. MARGULIES 2,817,522

PORTABLE GYMNASTIC DEVICE Filed July 26, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 N IN VENTOR.

PHIL/P MnRGuL/es Dec. 24, 1957 P. MARGULIE IS PORTABLE GYMNASTIC DEVICEFiled July 26, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

7 7 z y ,2 a m j 5 a Q Q R 1 w 7 WWII/willVII/l/IlIl/I/ll/fi m F is m wa V M r w M W United States Patent 2,817,522 Patented Dec. 24, 1957 firePORTABLE GYMNASTIC DEVICE Philip Margulies, New York, N. Y.

Application July 25, 1954, Serial No. 445,679

4 Claims. (Cl. 272-58) This invention relates to gymnastic units.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a gymnastic unitwhich combines the features of a parallel bar, a chinning bar, and anabdominal board in one unit.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a gymnasticunit of the above type which may be collapsed and folded into a compactunit for convenience in storage and which is portable thereby.

It is another object of the present invention to provide in a gymnasticunit of the above type a chinning bar of adjustable length as well asbase members of adjustable length.

Other objects of the present invention are to provide a gymnastic unitbearing the above objects in mind which is of simple construction,inexpensive to manufacture, has a minimum number of parts, is easy touse and eflicient in operation.

For other objects and a better understanding of the invention, referencemay be had to the following detailed description taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention showing the same in use with an abdominal board;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken along the line 2-2of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the upper portion of thedevice;

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the abdominal board supportingbar and the means for mounting the ends of the abdominal board;

Fig. 6 is a view shown partly in elevation and partly in section andtaken along the line 6--6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view shown partly broken away of thesupporting tube assembly and the means for adjustably positioning thesame;

'Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 88 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of one of the parts of the invention;

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the tubeassembly and showing the means for adjusting the same;

Fig. 11 is an exploded perspective view of the means for mounting theends of the chinning bar;

Fig. 12 is an exploded perspective view showing the parts of Fig. 11 inassembled relationship and the upper end of one of the tubular membersreceiving the same;

Fig. 13 is a vertical sectional view showing the parts of Fig. 12 inassembled relationship;

Fig. 14 is an exploded perspective view of one end of the base assembly;

Fig. 15 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 15-15 of Fig.14; and 1 Fig. 16 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line16-16 of Fig. 15.

Referring now more in detail to the drawing, 10 represents a pair ofoppositely disposed base members of substantially U-shaped cross sectionintegrally formed along their upper open edges with the laterallyextending flanges ll. The opposite sides of each of the base members illat each end thereof are provided with the longitudinally spaced,laterally aligned openings 12 (Figs. 15, 14 and 16).

A channel supporting member 13 of inverted U-shaped cross section isslidably disposed within the opposite ends of each of the base members10, the sides of the channel supporting member 13 being provided withlaterally aligned, longitudinally spaced openings adapted to be alignedwith the openings 12 while the upper surface thereof is provided with apair of upwardly extending lugs 14 for a purpose which will hereinafterbecome clear. Extendible legs 15 of substantially U-shaped cross sectionare slidably received intermediate the channel supporting members 13 andthe base bars it) at each end of the latter, the opposite sides of theextendible legs 15 being provided with elongated slots 16 aligned withthe openings 12. The outer end of each of the extendible arms 15 isintegrally formed with a depending flange 17 adapted to abut the ends ofthe base members 10 whereby to limit the inward displacement of the legs15, as will be obvious.

A transverse member 18 of U-shaped cross section is secured to theopposite ends of the bars ill by means of an L-shaped extension 19provided therein, the vertical portion 26 of the extension 19 havinglongitudinally spaced openings 21 adapted to be aligned with theopenings 12. The parts are retained in assembled relationship by meansof a U-bolt 22 (Fig. 14), which passes through the laterally alignedopenings in the base member 10, the channel supporting member 13, theextendible legs 15 and the vertical portion 20, the U-bolt being securedin position by the nuts 23.

The other ends of the transverse arms 18 are pivotally connected to eachother by means of a U-shaped bracket 24- and pins 25.

A lower tubular member 26 is provided for each pair of lugs 14, thelower end of each such tubular member 26 being integrally formed withthe lugs 27 received between each pair of lugs 14 and pivotallyconnected thereto by apin 28 (Fig. 16).

As shown in Figs. 7 and 8, the tubes 26 are provided on their innersurfaces with the longitudinal grooves 29, each of the bottom tubularmembers .26 being provided with an opening 30 therethrough aligned withthe internal groove 29 thereof. The outside of each of the tubularmembers 26 near the upper end thereof is integrally formed with a lug 31which pivotally mounts the bifurcated lower end of a hammer indicatedgenerally at 32 .by means of a pin 33, the hammer 32 including an offsethead member 34 adapted to be received through the opening 30. The member32 is provided with an elongated slot 35 (Fig. 7).

A rectangular shell or casing indicated generally at 36 is provided toenclose the hammer 32 and has a slot 45 for sliding movement ofstructure on the outside of the bottom tubular member 26, the shell 36being open along its inner face and integrally formed with a wedge 37(Fig. 9) adapted to be received between hammer 32 and the bottom tubularmember 26.

The tubular member 26 below the opening 30 is provided with a verticalslot 38 through which passes a transverse arm 39, the arm 39 passingoutwardly through the slot 35 in the hammer 32 and terminating in alaterally extending head 40. A U-shaped spring 41 is secured to theouter face of the head 40, the free ends of the spring 41 being bentlaterally and in resilient engagement with the inner face of the shell36.

A separable wedge 42 is provided with an upwardly extending slot 43which straddles the arm 39 within head 40 thereof, the wedge 42 beingintegrally formed with an outwardly extending handle 44 which extendsoutwardly of shell 36 through a vertical slot 45 provided therein, andterminating in a button 46 normally residing in the groove 29.

A middle tubular member 47 provided with a plurality of longitudinallyspaced openings 48 adapted to be aligned with the groove 29 and opening30 of the lower tubular members 26 is telescopically received therein,the upper ends of each of the middle tubular members 47 being providedwith saddle shaped openings 49. The tubular members 47 near their lowerends intermediate the lowermost pair of openings 48 each fixedly mountsa screw having a square head 50 adapted to ride within the groove 29,the head 50 being aligned vertically and disposed intermediate theopenings 48. The tubular members 47 will normally be received within thelower tubular members 26 in collapsed position. However, when thetubular members 47 are raised to their uppermost positions (Fig. l), thehead 50 will contact the arm 39, raising the latter along with the wedge37, shell 36, spring 41 and wedge 42. The upward movement of the partsthus described will, by engagement of the head 40 With the wedge 42,force the hammer 32 inwardly and the head thereof 34 within the alignedopenings 30, 48, whereby to lock the middle tubular members 47 in theiruppermost position to the lowermost members 26. When it is desired toremove the middle tubular members 47 entirely from the lower tubularmembers 26, it is only necessary to depress the wedge 42 by means of thebutton 46, which action will move the arm 39 outwardly from the groove29 and permit the passage upwardly therethrough of the head 50 and themiddle tubular member 47.

As shown in Fig. 1, upper tubular members 51 are telescopically receivedwithin the middle tubular members 47, the locking of the tubular members51 to the middle tubular members 47 when in their raised position beingeffected by a hammer mechanism indicated generally at 52 and similar tothe hammer mechanism described in connection With the lower members 26and their respective middle tubular members 47. The hammer mechanisms 52may be modified, however, in that each of the upper tubular members 51is provided with a longitudinal groove 53 aligned with the respectivehammer heads, the arm corresponding to the arm 39 projecting inwardlyfrom the middle tubular members 47 into the grooves 51 normally.Protrusions are provided at both ends of the grooves 53 and when thetube 51 is raised into its uppermost position (Fig. 1), the lowermostprotrusion will contact this arm and force the hammer mechanism into asimilar operation as that described in connection with Figs. 7 and 8,each of the tubular members 51 being provided with an openingtherethrough, not shown, within the grooves 53 which receivestherethrough the head of the hammer mechanism.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 11 through 13, it will be seen thatthe upper end of the upper tubular members 51 are integrally formed withtop walls or covers 54 having rectangular openings 55 therethrough, therectangular openings 55 at each end being provided with the semicircularextensions 56. A pair of complementary, frustoconical members 57 areadapted to fit within the upper ends of the upper tubular members 51below the covers 54 thereof with the upper ends of the members 57engaging the cover 54 on each side of the rectangular opening 55. Inorder to retain the frusto-cylindrical members 57 in operativeengagement with the inner faces of the tubular members 51 and the covers54 thereof, a wedge-shaped member having a rectangular body portion 58and semicylindrical extensions 59 at each end thereof is provided,

the body member 58 being substantially trapezoidal shape in crosssection (Fig. 13). Each of the frusto-cylindrical members are providedwith transverse slots 60 and openings 61 which communicate with theslots 60, the wedge being provided with extensions 62 which are slidablyreceived within the openings 61 and flanges 63 which are slidablyreceived within the slots 60 (Fig. 12). Thus, upon the insertiondownwardly of the wedge 58 intermediate the frusto-cylindrical members57, the latter will be urged into operative engagement with the insideof the tubular members 51 with the upper ends thereof engaging theundersurface of the cover 54. An externally knurled knob 64 is connectedto the top of the wedge by a neck 65 to facilitate the movement of thewedge in the desired direction, as will hereinafter become clear. A disc(Fig. 13) 66 is disposed across the cover 54 and is provided with acentral opening receiving the shaft or neck 65 therethrough. Theperiphery of disc 66 is integrally formed with a flange 67 havingoppositely disposed mounting openings 68 for a purpose which willhereinafter become clear. The disc 66 is provided with oppositelydisposed openings 69 through which pass L- shaped members 70 integrallyformed at the upper ends of the frusto-conical members 57, the openings69 being sufficiently wide to permit the downward displacement of themembers 70 therethrough when the wedge 58, 59 is moved upwardly.However, when the wedge is in the operative position of Fig. 13, theupper portions of the members 70 will engage the cover or disc 66whereby to prevent the removal of the latter.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 3 and 4, a pair of sleeves 71 areeach integrally formed on the undersurfaces thereof with a pair oflongitudinally spaced wings 72, the ends of the wings 72 being pivotallyconnected to oppositely disposed pairs of flanges 79 by means of pins 73located within the mounting openings 68 thereof. It will be readilyapparent that upon raising the knobs 64 from the full line position ofFig. 13 to the dotted line position, that the cover plates 66 may beremoved from the upper ends of the tubular members 51 to permit theremoval of sleeves 71 pivotally connected thereto.

An inner sleeve 74 (Fig. 4) integrally formed at its inner end with aflange 75 is rotatably mounted within each of the outer sleeves 71 bymeans of ball bearings 76.

A tubular chinning bar 77 has the opposite ends thereof fixedly mountedwithin the sleeves 74 by means of the screws 78.

An adjustable collar 79' is mounted on the outer end of each of theinner sleeves 74 and serves to retain the outer sleeves 71 thereon, thecollar 79' being adjustable by means of set screws 80. Thus, thechinning bar 77 is rotatably mounted within the removably mountedsleeves 71. When it is desired to lock the chinning bar 77 relative tothe outer sleeve 71, it is only necessary to adjust a bolt 81 screwthreaded upwardly through the bottom of each of the outer sleeves 71until it is received within a corresponding opening provided in theinner sleeves 74 (Fig. 4).

The outer ends of the chinning bar 77 extend outwardly of the collars79' in externally threaded portions 82 provided with slots 83. A nut 84is provided on the outer end of each of the externally threaded portions82 and is adapted to restrict the internal diameter of the ends of thechinning bar 77 as the nuts 84 are screwed inwardly, as will be obvious.Tubular extensions 85 are mounted within the opposite ends of thechinning bar 77 and are normally retained therewithin by nut 84. Uponthe unscrewing of nut 84, the extensions 85 may be extended outwardlywhereby to increase the length of the chinning bar portion.

A collapsible abdominal board is provided and comprises the boards 86and 87 connected by means of the hinges 88 (Figs. 1, 5 and 6), the endof the board 86 remote from hinge 88 being provided with L-shaped screws89 (Fig. 2) which engage the innermost flange 11 of one of the basemembers 10, whereby to mount the lower end of the abdominal boardintermediate the uprights in the manner shown.

In order to support the upper end of the abdominal board, collars 90 areadjustably mounted upon the bottom tubular members 26 as willhereinafter become clear. Each of the collars is eccentric and isprovided with a slot 91 which communicates with the outside through anopening 92, the collar portion adjacent the slot 91 having an internallythreaded opening 93 into which is screw threaded a stud 94 adapted tolock the collar 90 to the lower tubular member 26. The outer end of thestud 94 is bifurcated and pivotally mounts a lever 95 by means of whichit may be tightened. The ends of the slots 91 are tapered inwardlydownwardly and receive therewithin the correspondingly shaped flanges 96integrally formed with the brackets 97, the outer face of each of theflanges 96 being provided with a slot 98 which receives therewithin theouter end of stud 94- and lever 95 (Fig. 6). The slot 98 prevents therotational movement of the stud 94 and thereby the collars from becomingloose upon the tubular members 26. The brackets 97 are provided withlongitudinally aligned openings which receive therethrough the oppositeends of a tubular abdominal bar 99, the bar being secured within thebrackets by means of a set screw 100 screw threaded through the brackets97 and selectively received within one of a plurality of longitudinallyspaced openings 101 provided therein.

A pair of longitudinally spaced collars 102 are rotatably mounted on theabdominal bar 99, the collars 102 being located in suitable annulargrooves provided therein whereby to prevent longitudinal displacementwhile permitting rotational movement. Flanges 103 of substantiallyL-shaped cross section are secured to the collars 102 and mount theopposite ends of a strap 104. The upper end of the abdominal board 87 isreceived intermediate the bar 99 and strap 104 with the hinges 88 beingdisposed downwardly as shown in Fig. 1. Thus, as the angulation of theuprights vary, the collars 102 will rotate accordingly.

The unit may be made stationary by securing the base members 10 to thefloor or alternately by securing the brackets 24 thereto. The formermethod would retain the entire unit in a flattened disposition at thebase (Fig. 1), while the latter would permit the unit to be folded up inthe manner of a book.

Fig. 1 illustrates the device in operative use as an abdominal board.Upon removal of the board, it will be apparent that the device may beused as a chinning bar. To remove the abdominal board, the bolts 89 arerotated through ninety degrees to bring them out of engagement with theflange 11. The bar 99 is then removed by removing the flanges 96 fromthe slots 91 in the collars 90, the abdominal board then being raisedand folded together with the hinges 88 disposed lowermost, at whichpoint the abdominal board may be placed to one side. The upper tubes 51are then collapsed into the middle tubes 47 and the latter are collapsedinto the lower tubes 26 which leaves the chinning bar 77 disposed on topof the brackets 24 and the collapsed tubes 51, 4-7, 26 disposed on topof the transverse arms 18 in a compact manner. The abdominal board isthen placed on top of the depressed chinning bar 77 with the hinges 88disposed uppermost. The entire device may then be collapsed in themanner of a book, bringing the base members 10 together.

To assemble the device, the base members 10 are rotated outwardly ontothe floor, as shown in Fig. 1. The abdominal board is then removed andput aside. The chinning bar 77 is then lifted up over the users head andthe hammer mechanisms will automatically lock the 6 tubular portions 47,51 in their extension Fig. 1.

In order to convert the device to a parallel bar, the upper tubularmembers 51 are collapsed within the middle tubular members 47 bydepressing the buttons 46 of the hammer assemblies 52. This disposes:the chinning bar 77 above the upper ends of the converging tubes 47. Theknobs 64 are then pulled upwardly, Fig. 13, to permit the removal of thechinning bar assembly. The chinning bar assembly is then placed to oneside. Thus, the top tubular members 51 are collapsed within theirrespective middle tubular members 47 and retained therein. The upperends of the tubes 51 will be disposed within the saddle shaped cut outs49 of the middle tubular members 47. The buttons 46 are then depressedto permit the removal of any two upper tubular members 51 from theirrespective middle tubular members 47 and placed transversely on thesaddle shaped openings 49, the ends of the thus removed transverse uppertubular members being secured by raising the shells of the hammerassemblies 52, the opposite ends of the upper tubular members 51 thusselected being provided with suitable openings at the end thereof whichreceive the heads of the hammers in a manner similar to the lowertubular hammer assemblies. The abdominal board may, of course, be usedeither with the chinning bar as a unit or with the parallel bar assemblyjust described. To collapse the parallel bar assembly, the upper tubes51 are placed within the middle tubes 47 and the chinning bar assemblyis placed across the: brackets 24 when the tubular members have beencollapsed and rotated downwardly.

While the various changes may be made in the detail construction, itshall be understood that such changes shall be within the spirit andscope of the present in vention as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A collapsible gym. unit comprising a base frame assembly, fourtubular uprights respectively pivotally connected at their lower ends tothe base frame assembly for fore and aft pivotal adjustment relativethereto, second tubular uprights respectively telescopically receivedwithin said respective first-named uprights, latch devices on thefirst-named tubular uprights to hold the second tubular uprights intheir extended positions thereon, third tubular uprights respectivelytelescopically received within said respective second tubular uprights,latch devices upon the upper ends of the respective second tubularuprights respectively engageable with the third tubular uprights to holdthem in their extended positions thereon, the assembled tubular uprightsupon each side of the base frame assembly converging with one another, achinning bar assembly releasably attached to the converged upper ends ofthe assembled tubular uprights, the upper ends of said second tubularuprights respectively having saddle-shaped cutous adjacent to therespective latch devices thereon and adapted to receive the ends of athird tubular upright when extended horizontally therebetween, the endsof the third tubular uprights adapted to be retained in their horizontalpositions on the second tubular uprights by the latch devices thereof,whereby upon the chinning bar assembly being released, the unit may beconverted into a parallel bar apparatus.

2. A collapsible gym unit as defined claim 1 wherein the base frameassembly includes laterally adjustable supporting members for thefirst-named tubular uprights, retaining devices for holding saidsupporting members in their laterally adjusted positions, whereby saidthird tubular uprights when used as parallel bars may be laterallyspaced and retained at different distances from each other.

3. A collapsible gym unit as defined in claim 2 wherein an abdominal baris extended transversely of the unit between first tubular uprights, andretaining means for seposition of curing the ends of the abdominal barfor vertical and lon- References Cited in the file of this patentgitudinal adjustment upon the respective tubnlar uprights. UNITED STATESPATENTS 4. A collapsible gym unit as defined 1n claim 3 wherein anabdominal board is extended between the base assem- 7151530 Wallace 1902bly and the abdominal bar, foot strap means on the ab- 5 860,517Berglund July 19, 1907 dominal bar for releasibly receiving andretaining one 2062813 Knourek 1936 end of the board upon the abdominalbar and means for 2,240,228 Schau 1941 releasably securing the other endof the abdominal board 23571819 Greer Sept- 1944 to the base frameassembly.

